A coworker pointed me towards the BBC's top 100 books you need read before you die (2014) list where I had read just over a quarter of them (26). It got me thinking about what makes a book (or anything really) eligible to get on that list. A Bucket List is a list of things you would like to do before you die, but there are lists out there that other people built that say what everyone should do/read/watch/eat pre-death. I don't really have an issue with others writing those lists. I'm simply curious what their criteria is. When I put the question to my wife, "What kinds of books would you put on a 'must read' list?" she responded, "What ever the person needs." It wasn't the answer I was looking for but it demonstrates her pragmatic view on live as opposed to my more ideological one.
I'll be honest, with her rather simple but pertinent answer it makes it hard to compile my own list of must read/do/eats. Can I know what I should do if I don't know what I will need to do? Probably not. With that in mind I present: not my list of things you should do/read/eat, nor my own bucket list of what I would like to do/read/eat, but my Things I'm glad that I've done/read/eaten.
(In no particular order, but with number 1 being unquestionably the most significant)
1 - Married my wife. Easily the best thing I've ever done. Marrying her changed me in ways I never thought it would. It's made me want to be a better person. I love her deeply and she makes me deliriously happy.
2 - Lived (and still am living) as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses, but even if I didn't known of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Christ I don't see any problems with the way my life has gone by living the it. I receive peace, joy, and comfort from my beliefs. I avoid lots of problems by obeying by religion's tenants. I do not regret anything I have not been able to do because of my faith and I treasure what I've done and learned.
In all honestly most of the the life changing, significant events in my life have come from those two things. These include:
* Servicing a religious service mission to SW Russian (Rostov-na-Donu, Volgagrad, Novocherkassk, Krasnodar)
* Having children
* Reading the Bible, Book of Mormon, and other religious texts
* participating in service opportunities
3 - Reading:
* Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
* 1984 by George Orwell
* Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
* The Allience by Gerald Lund
* Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
4 - Visited:
* New York
* Boston
* Mamev Kurgan and the Panaramic Museum (Volgagrad, Russia)
* Red Square (Moscow Russia)
* Trakai Castle (Lithuania)
5 - Learned to rock climb. Talk about discovering a whole new world.
6 - Learned Russian. It taught me about language in general, introduced me to a different culture, and gave me an appreciation of differences.
7 - Earned my Bachelor's degree. My education helped define how I look at the world and helped me learn more about myself and others.
There are many more things that I am glad that I did/read/ate, but these are the big ones. As I thought about these it did occur to me that there is one thing that I recommend people do before they die - Live.
I'll be honest, with her rather simple but pertinent answer it makes it hard to compile my own list of must read/do/eats. Can I know what I should do if I don't know what I will need to do? Probably not. With that in mind I present: not my list of things you should do/read/eat, nor my own bucket list of what I would like to do/read/eat, but my Things I'm glad that I've done/read/eaten.
(In no particular order, but with number 1 being unquestionably the most significant)
1 - Married my wife. Easily the best thing I've ever done. Marrying her changed me in ways I never thought it would. It's made me want to be a better person. I love her deeply and she makes me deliriously happy.
2 - Lived (and still am living) as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. Marx called religion the opiate of the masses, but even if I didn't known of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Christ I don't see any problems with the way my life has gone by living the it. I receive peace, joy, and comfort from my beliefs. I avoid lots of problems by obeying by religion's tenants. I do not regret anything I have not been able to do because of my faith and I treasure what I've done and learned.
In all honestly most of the the life changing, significant events in my life have come from those two things. These include:
* Servicing a religious service mission to SW Russian (Rostov-na-Donu, Volgagrad, Novocherkassk, Krasnodar)
* Having children
* Reading the Bible, Book of Mormon, and other religious texts
* participating in service opportunities
3 - Reading:
* Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
* 1984 by George Orwell
* Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
* The Allience by Gerald Lund
* Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
4 - Visited:
* New York
* Boston
* Mamev Kurgan and the Panaramic Museum (Volgagrad, Russia)
* Red Square (Moscow Russia)
* Trakai Castle (Lithuania)
5 - Learned to rock climb. Talk about discovering a whole new world.
6 - Learned Russian. It taught me about language in general, introduced me to a different culture, and gave me an appreciation of differences.
7 - Earned my Bachelor's degree. My education helped define how I look at the world and helped me learn more about myself and others.
There are many more things that I am glad that I did/read/ate, but these are the big ones. As I thought about these it did occur to me that there is one thing that I recommend people do before they die - Live.
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